MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH

'Aborted' baby born alive,
authorities say

Will clinic staffer be charged with homicide for disposing of live infant?

An investigation into the remains of a baby found at a Hialeah, Fla., abortion clinic in July has determined that the child was born alive, but authorities say it may come down to an interpretation of federal law whether charges will be filed.

The case developed at the end of July when the remains were found in a biohazard bag at “A Gynecologists Diagnostic Center” after an anonymous 911 call reported to police that a child had been born alive, then killed.

Infants’ remains at an abortion clinic are not a violation of the law — unless that child was born alive, in which case the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2000 takes effect.

The Miami-Dade County medical examiner and police in Hialeah have been investigating, and now local investigators in the South Florida city have confirmed the child was born alive.

Hialeah Deputy Police Chief Mark Overton recently told WorldNetDaily columnist Jill Stanek that the medical examiner ruled the baby was born alive, but state attorneys were trying to determine if the child was viable, or able to live outside the womb.

At the time the body was found, a lawyer for the owner of the abortion business issued a statement that no crime was committed, and an 18-year-old had had an abortion without complications.

“My clients run an abortion clinic. It’s a legal business,” Regina DeMoraes-Millan told television station WFOR-TV in Miami-Fort Lauderdale at the time. “Right now police are just investigating a 9-1-1 call.”

Police were called to the Hialeah clinic on July 20 after a report that a person – identified by Overton as clinic owner Belkis Gonzalez – took the infant and placed it in the biohazard bag. But police were unable to investigate because the clinic was closed when they arrived.

After getting the mother’s name, police obtained a search warrant, but on July 22 found nothing in their search, Stanek’s sources reported.

Then on July 29, after another anonymous tip, officers returned and found the decomposing body in the bag.

Since then, the investigation has gone on, but now Overton has confirmed to Stanek that he’s ready to move it to the next level, if a homicide count isn’t coming.

“I will make a request to have the case reviewed by a higher authority and go to the media, regardless of the outcome,” he told her.

At the time the body was found, a spokeswoman for Florida Right to Life told WND that babies’ bodies in an abortion clinic are just “business as usual” for the industry.

Spokeswoman Linda Bell said there are very few protections for the mother, and essentially none for the unborn children, as a “result of legalized abortion in our nation.”

“In 24 years in law enforcement, I have never seen a case like this,” he had told reporters.

Witnesses told police the woman went in for an abortion, and returned the next day but an abortionist wasn’t immediately available. While she was in a room, she gave birth to the child, witnesses told police.

The witnesses said the clinic worker then came in and put the baby in the bag.

Bell said her organization and others concerned about life repeatedly have tried to get basic health clinic rules applied to abortion businesses, without success to date.

“Unfortunately, that’s the mentality of this country, that the abortion business is not subject (to rules),” she told WND. “This is the result of that.”

One of the witnesses in the case is the mother of the child, police have said.

A report by the Miami Herald said state records show the clinic is one of a group owned and run by the same people. The records show the owner is Gonzalez, of Miramar, who also was listed as the owner of the Miramar clinic that was closed in 2005 after several workers were accused of practicing medicine without a license.

The state Department of Health concluded that one worker, Roberto A. Osborne, failed to treat a woman after giving her an abortion in 2000 and he pleaded guilty in 2005 to performing medicine without a license, a third-degree felony.

Bell also noted the Miramar clinic at one point promoted a cleaning woman to medical assistant so she could assist with abortions. Bell said the woman later pleaded guilty to nursing without a license.